Santa Barbara Triathlon- Race Report

I raced in the Santa Barbara Triathlon last weekend (August 25th) and had a mission- to take 1st in my AG again. I got there the day before and picked up my packet and did my ritual swim in the ocean at East Beach. I was staying with a friend in Summerland for the night, so I was going to be on my way to her house by 5:30pm, dinner date at 7pm. The Tri itself is a 1 mile swim, 34 mile bike, and 10 mile run. It is one of the longer tris to do, if you want to challenge yourself to a distance a bit longer than the Olympic distance, but don't want to do a half-ironman. It was my final race before Wisconsin, so my goal was to have a solid race and test my speed on my long, slow distance training legs :)

The race stated at 7am, my wave set off at 7:18. The sun was out and bright and it was going to be a beautiful day. I was one of the first to dolphin kick into the water and had a good fight out to the first buoy. It was actually pretty fun- I don't mind getting smacked around a bit on the swim. Makes me stronger... I held on to a chick's feet for the entire swim. Thanks for the pull, I was thinking the whole time. We had bright pink caps, so it was easy to follow her. My own personal buoy...

I ran out the water in the swim and looked at my watch- 25 minutes and something. Wow, I thought, 2 mins faster than last year. (Not that you can really compare, but I was excited thus far with how I felt). Must have been the Starbucks Iced Light Coffee...

Got on my bike (Gonzales) and off I went. I also wanted to ride HARD today on the bike and test my speed. No prisoners. I knew the bike course and what to expect at mile 25 or so. A few steep climbs and hopefully, not burn my legs out. I didn't want to see Clancy or Gabby at all on the ride..but, sure enough, mile 28 or so, here comes Clancy...now I have my work cut out for me for sure. Gotta play catch up now..

I sure enough caught up to Clancy on the end of the bike and we literally ran into T2 together. Didn't see any other girl in my AG on the run. So, pretty sure I was in 1st. Clancy took off like a bat out of you-know-what and I thought, either I would catch her or she had it. I have been starting my runs with major confidence this season, so all I told myself was to take the first 3 miles "easier" and then hammer it home. The last 5 were going to be all downhill anyway..so, go hard.

I got to the turn around and ran into some humorous male Age Groupers. I had some nice compliments, like "nice legs" or "good job sexy"- since when did you get this kind of harassment at races :) Bring it on...

So, here I am, having a terrific race, thinking I am #1 when I see this girl in the near distance. Near distance being .3 mile away..with about 1.5 miles to go. I am going to chase her down, I thought. I had some left in me, and regardless if she was in my AG or not, I was going to get her. Gabby and Clancy were already done..I needed her. Sure enough, I got up to her and saw a 25 on her calf. Hmmm..she is in my AG. I caught her and passed her..looked back and she was not chasing. She was done. Hah! I had her...1st in my AG- 7 mins faster than last year. I felt great- took home another tile. Clancy took 1st in her AG, Gabby 1st in hers, and Mike 4th in his. Congrats to all my friends who did the race and great job on the beer relays later at the pool- hosted by, of course, Emilio DeSoto.

Here is to Wisconsin- less than 2 weeks away. TAPER IT UP!